Themes

Trae offers a variety of themes to customize the appearance of your development environment. You can choose from built-in themes or install custom themes to match your preferences and improve your coding experience.

Accessing Theme Settings

To change your theme in Trae:

1. Open the Command Palette with Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux)
2. Type "Color Theme" and select Preferences: Color Theme
3. Alternatively, access themes through Settings > Appearance > Color Theme

Built-in Themes

Trae comes with several high-quality built-in themes:

Dark Themes

• Dark+ (default dark): The default dark theme with excellent contrast
• Dark Modern: A modern dark theme with refined colors
• Monokai: Popular dark theme with vibrant syntax highlighting
• Solarized Dark: Well-balanced dark theme based on the Solarized color palette
• Tomorrow Night Blue: Dark blue theme with comfortable colors
• High Contrast: High contrast dark theme for accessibility

Light Themes

• Light+ (default light): The default light theme with clean appearance
• Light Modern: A modern light theme with subtle colors
• Solarized Light: Light version of the popular Solarized theme
• Quiet Light: Minimal light theme with muted colors
• Tomorrow: Clean light theme with balanced contrast
• High Contrast Light: High contrast light theme for accessibility

Changing Themes

Using Command Palette

1. Open Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Type "Color Theme" and select Preferences: Color Theme
3. Use arrow keys to preview themes in real-time
4. Press Enter to apply the selected theme

Using Settings

1. Open Settings (Cmd+, / Ctrl+,)
2. Search for "color theme"
3. Select your preferred theme from the dropdown
4. The theme will be applied immediately

Using Keyboard Shortcut

• Quick Theme Switch: Cmd+K Cmd+T (macOS) or Ctrl+K Ctrl+T (Windows/Linux)
• This opens the theme picker with live preview

Theme Components

Trae themes customize various interface elements:

Editor Colors

• Syntax Highlighting: Colors for keywords, strings, comments, etc.
• Background: Editor background color
• Foreground: Default text color
• Selection: Selected text background
• Line Highlight: Current line background
• Cursor: Cursor color and style

UI Colors

• Activity Bar: Left sidebar with icons
• Side Bar: File explorer and other panels
• Status Bar: Bottom information bar
• Title Bar: Window title area
• Menu Bar: Application menu
• Tabs: File tab colors and styles

Terminal Colors

• Background: Terminal background color
• Foreground: Terminal text color
• ANSI Colors: Standard terminal color palette
• Cursor: Terminal cursor appearance

Installing Custom Themes

From Extensions Marketplace

1. Open the Extensions panel (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
2. Search for "theme" or specific theme names
3. Click Install on your preferred theme extension
4. Once installed, the theme will appear in the theme picker
5. Apply the theme using the Command Palette or Settings

Popular Theme Extensions

• One Dark Pro: Atom's iconic One Dark theme
• Material Theme: Google's Material Design colors
• Dracula: Popular dark theme with purple accents
• Nord: Arctic-inspired color palette
• Gruvbox: Retro groove color scheme
• Night Owl: Theme designed for night owls
• Palenight: Elegant dark theme with purple tones

Creating Custom Themes

You can create your own custom themes:

Theme Structure

Themes are defined in JSON format with the following structure:

{
  "name": "My Custom Theme",
  "type": "dark",
  "colors": {
    "editor.background": "#1e1e1e",
    "editor.foreground": "#d4d4d4",
    "activityBar.background": "#2d2d30",
    "sideBar.background": "#252526"
  },
  "tokenColors": [
    {
      "scope": "comment",
      "settings": {
        "foreground": "#6A9955",
        "fontStyle": "italic"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Theme Development Steps

1. Create Theme Extension: Use the Trae extension generator
2. Define Colors: Specify UI and syntax colors
3. Test Theme: Preview your theme in development
4. Package Extension: Create a distributable package
5. Publish: Share your theme with the community

Theme Customization Tools

• Theme Studio: Visual theme editor for real-time customization
• Color Picker: Built-in color selection tools
• Preview Mode: Live preview of theme changes
• Export Options: Export themes for sharing

Theme Synchronization

Keep your theme preferences synchronized across devices:

Settings Sync

1. Enable Settings Sync in Trae
2. Sign in to your Trae account
3. Your theme preferences will sync automatically
4. Install the same theme extensions on all devices

Manual Export/Import

1. Export: Save your theme settings to a file
2. Transfer: Move the file to another device
3. Import: Load the theme settings on the new device

Accessibility Considerations

When choosing or creating themes, consider accessibility:

High Contrast Themes

• Use built-in high contrast themes for better visibility
• Ensure sufficient color contrast ratios
• Test themes with screen readers

Color Blindness Support

• Choose themes that don't rely solely on color for information
• Use patterns or shapes in addition to colors
• Test themes with color blindness simulators

Customization for Accessibility

• Adjust font sizes and weights
• Modify cursor visibility
• Enhance selection highlighting
• Increase line spacing for readability

Theme Performance

Some considerations for theme performance:

Rendering Efficiency

• Simple themes render faster than complex ones
• Avoid excessive transparency effects
• Use solid colors when possible

Memory Usage

• Themes with many color definitions use more memory
• Uninstall unused theme extensions
• Keep only essential themes installed

Troubleshooting Themes

Common Issues

Theme Not Applying

1. Restart Trae after installing new themes
2. Check if the theme extension is enabled
3. Verify theme compatibility with your Trae version

Colors Not Displaying Correctly

1. Check your display color settings
2. Verify theme file integrity
3. Reset to default theme and reapply

Performance Issues

1. Disable complex theme extensions
2. Use built-in themes for better performance
3. Clear theme cache if available

Theme Reset

To reset to default theme:

1. Open Command Palette
2. Run Preferences: Color Theme
3. Select Dark+ (default dark) or Light+ (default light)
4. Restart Trae if needed

Best Practices

Theme Selection

1. Choose Based on Environment: Dark themes for low-light, light themes for bright environments
2. Consider Eye Strain: Select themes that reduce eye fatigue during long coding sessions
3. Match Your Workflow: Choose themes that complement your development style
4. Test Thoroughly: Try themes for several days before making a final decision

Theme Management

1. Keep It Simple: Don't install too many theme extensions
2. Regular Updates: Keep theme extensions updated
3. Backup Preferences: Export theme settings before major changes
4. Team Consistency: Consider using consistent themes across your development team

Advanced Theme Features

Conditional Themes

Some advanced setups allow:

• Time-based Switching: Automatically switch between light and dark themes
• Project-based Themes: Different themes for different projects
• Language-specific Themes: Themes optimized for specific programming languages

Theme Inheritance

• Base Themes: Create themes that inherit from existing ones
• Partial Overrides: Modify only specific colors while keeping others
• Theme Variants: Create multiple variants of the same base theme

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